Luke 15:6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
This week an interesting phenomenon occurred that had Israeli scientists baffled. Two sperm whales appeared off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea! It was the first time they've encountered it -- in the modern state of Israel. In February, a killer whale was seen for the first time off Israel's coast. These events had me wondering in numerous ways... about whales...
....and reminded me of a story written in the San Francisco Chronicle about a female Humpback that had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. Weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat, with hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, tail, and torso, and a line tugging in her mouth, she was a miserable victim indeed.
Thankfully, a fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was in such bad condition the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her, a very dangerous proposition. One slap of her enormous tail could kill a rescuer. Undaunted, these brave souls worked for hours cutting her free. One guy who was cutting the rope out of her mouth says he saw her eye following him the entire time. Finally, they were able to free her.
The moment she was freed, the divers say she began to swim in joyous circles! She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, gently --she thanked them all. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.
Now here is a powerful lesson from a beautiful story. There are deeply wounded and entangled souls in our congregations and communities who are desperate and near to sinking, never to be seen again. Where are the brave souls ready to risk the danger and gather a team of rescuers to cut them loose and bring them to joyous freedom? Isn't this exactly what our Lord has done for us? We can afford to do the same, and I believe we have this mandate from Him. These are difficult cases, perhaps there is even some danger in approaching them; but a brave and resolute team, led and empowered by our Captain, can accomplish the rescue and share in the amazing joy of the deliverance.
You may be the one to initiate this kind of rescue team for a brother or sister in distress. If so, just do it. The result will be as beautiful and rewarding as a joy-filled Humpback Whale!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As we approach the end of the age we are overwhelmed with the amount of evidence of the reliability and accuracy of the Bible. In the last century, archaeological discoveries have significantly reinforced the Bible’s credibility. A pivotal moment was in 1947 with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, an event whose significance was underscored with the timing of the reestablishment of the nation of Israel.
Yeshua (Jesus) gave us some signs and indications of what society would look like just before His return. One sign was the sign of Lot.
People read this verse, and think God is telling them to be passive — to overlook what happened. That is not a bad thing — but it isn’t exactly what Yeshua (Jesus) was saying. Turning the other cheek is not about being passive. It’s about being active! So active that it actually confounds your enemy! Turning the other cheek is about taking an action so revolutionary, so shocking, so out of the ordinary that it shocks everyone around. It confounds the world — and can also change it!
For over 25 years we’ve been covering Christian Persecution, and whenever I come across an amazing story of how a saint endured such hardships, it encourages me. I remember reading about Watchman Nee and his imprisonment. The Chinese government would change the guards at his cell daily for fear that Nee would lead them to the Lord. Their fears were justified — many of those guards did come to faith! Apparently Watchman Nee had learned a powerful lesson from the Apostle Paul.